Seized rhino horn returned to South Africa

A consignment of 33 rhino horns that was seized by customs officials in Hong Kong in November 2011 has been returned to South Africa.

The horns together weigh 79.9 kilograms and are worth an estimated R23.8-million on the black market.

The horns, along with a large number of elephant ivory products, arrived at OR Tambo Airport International Airport on Wednesday.

Colonel Johan Jooste, of the Hawks special investigation unit of the SA Police Service, told a press briefing at the airport that a container allegedly containing waste, parings and scrap plastic had been cleared at an SA Revenue Service office in Johannesburg in October 2011, transported to Cape Town and shipped to Hong Kong.

An investigation was then launched by the Hawks’ endangered species unit and a docket presented to the National Prosecuting Authority, after which South Africa applied to China for the return of the horns.

Both countries are party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Jooste said the success of the investigation was encouraging, and that it was evident that the Chinese government was willing to co-operate in combating wildlife crime.

“It’s a positive step forward, we see the engagement of other countries seeing it as important as we do.”

He said the return of these items meant they could now be forensically analysed, which could lead to the arrest of the poachers as well as the couriers of the illegal shipment.